


I don't belong here

by superwholocked_wizard



Series: I want you home [3]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: 12 years old, Angst, Cinnamon Roll, Emotionally and physically, Gore trigger warning, M/M, Murder Trigger Warning, Natasha is a badass, Other, PTSD, Slow Burn, Steve understood that reference, Stony - Freeform, Thor is confused, Tony and Pepper are just friends, Tony is a dad, Violence Trigger warning, a 12 year old in a big ass battle, a match made in hell, adopted stark child, and in a worse way than before, and more than an ass to look at, as in she's young, but when he's around steve, child original female character, child with PTSD, genius 12 year old, glares as joss whedon for making natasha just an ass to look at, jotun!daughter, loki has a daughter, loki is hurt, minor original female character - Freeform, not tony, phil coulson dies, pining!Steve, pining!tony, she can turn blue, slightly compliant with cannon, slow burn stony, some stuff is different, sorry - Freeform, steve is blushing, tons of angst, tony adopted a kid, tony is in love with steve rogers, tony stark is a sinnamon roll, who has PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-01-27 21:03:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12590484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superwholocked_wizard/pseuds/superwholocked_wizard
Summary: (Taking place within the events of the first Avengers movie, somewhat cannon compliant)Lex is Tony's adopted daughter. Of course, she can't quite remember where she came from, or who her parents were. She knows enough to realise that they're probably never coming back, and she's fine with that.All of her original thoughts are trashed however, when the mysterious glowing box known as 'The Teseract,' opens a portal to reveal someone who Lex can't help but feel is familiar to her. All the while, Tony's dealing with bring around his childhood crush in real life, whilst trying to stop his daughter from having a conversation with the psycho locked away in a glass cage.





	1. Recognising a stranger

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there!
> 
> this work is part of a series, the last fic will explain a few bits and bobs eg parentage (Tony is clueless but hey we know better)
> 
> so anyway, enjoy!
> 
> Sophie xx
> 
> (As always, originally posted at: ao3-hipster-fangirl-trash.tumblr.com

Lex was put up for adoption when she was 5.

It wasn’t because her family didn’t love her, they truly did, it was because they couldn’t be sure she was safe anymore. A child that turns blue when afraid is extremely suspicious to say the least, but where she had come from? Even more so.

She remembered how her father had cried, tears tracking though the grime coating his face. She remembered how he had held to her so tightly, his fists bunching her dress and sniffing into her shoulder. She remembered his pleas, his words, just, him.

She had been crying too. Of course, she wasn’t sure if it was because she knew what was happening, or because of what had just happened, but either way, she was crying. 

They had been standing on the doorstep of an orphanage, or a foster home, or some place where orphans went. It was late and no-one was on the streets, everyone sleeping in their beds, cuddled up to someone or something. But they were awake, on the steps of a home that wasn’t hers.

She’d forgotten what he called her. 

It was something beautiful, something lovely. Her original name before he had left her alone. She had told one of the boys in the home, but even he didn’t remember any more.

He had said her name, then; I must leave. Be good, be kind, be smart, be safe.

Then he had gone. 

She had knocked on the door, greeted by a woman in a nightgown, crying to her about how she had lost her Papa, and how she was alone, and the woman had taken her in and helped her look. But, as suspected, they had found no-one.

Of course she had made friends whilst she was there, but only one she kept in contact with, and thats who she was talking to right now, in the Stark tower, 4 years after the Afghanistan incident and 7 years after being left.

Both of them had progressed in school exponentially, becoming the highest in their grades in the sciences and mathematics, each of them describes as ‘star students’ and both of them continuously bored by the curriculum. At that current moment, they were talking about their English teacher, Mr Burney, who had assigned them yet another book to read, and yet again it was the most boring thing that the two of them had ever had the displeasure of laying their eyes on.

“I mean, who decides to make a shakespearian drama with entire chapters of bad grammar AND then makes sure that it has no feasible end, and on top of that add political subtext which makes no sense whatsoever?”

Peter sighed on the other side of the line at the end of the rant, clearly still frustrated by the entire situation. 

“Clearly someone who thinks they can write?” Lex chucked, moving around her room, kicking away her beanbag which was laid across her floor, somewhat pathetically. 

“Maybe if we go to sleep, tomorrow we won’t remember the plot?”

Lex gave a little laugh, shaking her head slightly.

“Maybe.”

She heard thrusters firing near the balcony, before a loud metallic clang as Tony landed, back from his last ‘science mission.’

Lex jumped towards the door, phone still in hand, rushing towards the living room.

“Peteigottagotony’sbacktalktoyousoon!!” She heard him chuckle on the other side of the line and say a quick ‘bye’ before hearing a continuous beep, singling that he had hung up.

She barrelled into the living room and threw herself towards Tony, having him barely catch her and hoist her into his arms, after all, she was 12, in motion and tall for her age, and he wasn't Captain America.

“Heeeyyyy kiddo, did ya miss me?” She gave him a toothy grin in reply before giving him a gentle pat on the cheek.

“Tony you were gone an hour.” She replied, before jumping down and going towards Pepper, who was currently fussing over the stats of the tower’s energy.

The blueprints were rising from their sheets, broad glowing shapes representing the very structure where they stood, every little detail counted for, from the water pipes to the odd thermostat wiring in Lex’s room (too cold and she went a little… well… blue).

Lex brought her hands towards the large frame of the building and passed her hand through it, waving it back and forth in a bored and repetitive motion.

“Peppeeeeeeerrrrrr?” Pepper hummed in response before she looked down from her work to see Lex staring up at her, eyes wide.

“Pepper can we get takeaway? Like Wendy’s or something, cause Tony had a nice burger with onion rings last time and I want a burger and onion rings.”

She gave a slight smile from the corner of her mouth, looking back towards her work.

“I would say ask Tony but I know he's definitely going to say yes to takeaway.”

“Did someone say takeaway?”

Tony had reached the table where the two girls were stood, surveying his good work.

He walked around Pepper, admiring the work he had done. Whilst watching the energy levels stabilise he felt himself fill with an almost self serving pride which only Tony Stark would be able to recognise. Of course he was proud. He had just made his entire building go green, he had a lot to be proud about. Of course, the best part was when he got to explain it to Lex, and how her eyes went wide and her mouth hung open, clearly enamoured by the logistics of the devices he made. Whilst she wasn’t biologically his kid, he could see himself in her a little more every day.

At that particular moment she was clinging onto Peppers arm, giving her Tony’s signature puppy dog face, ‘cept she could pull it off 1000 times better than he could, hell if it were her that had ended up in that cave, they would have let her out within a day, begging for her to forgive them.

“Pops, can we get takeaway?” Good god he couldn’t ever say no to that face.

“Fine-“

“Yesss.”

He watched her give a little fist pump in victory, ever so slight but still. He knew she had him wrapped around her little finger, the only problem was that she knew it. Of course, she didn't let him spoil her, she knew her limits and didn’t like to test em.

There was a ding behind them where the elevator settled in its place drawing everyone to look at the double doors as they opened.

“Wow that was quick.” Tony gave a snicker at Lex’s little quip, before turning back to the doors to see Phil Coulson striding out in a brisk manner, a file in hand, with a blank face, completely unaware of the previous comment.

“Cole!” Lex ran towards the man, only to have him hoist her up on his hip, looking at her in an amused manner.

“Oh god you’re getting big, what are you now, 26? 27 maybe?” Lex laughed and slid down before heading to the couch and plopping herself down, turning on the tv as a ‘faux distraction,’ on low enough that she could hear the conversation.

Tony, of course, knew this, but indulged her curiosity by saying nothing of it.

“We got a little problem Stark,” Coulson sighed, shifting the files of paper in his grasp, “An interstellar problem.”

“Sounds like a big problem.” It obviously earnt him a swift kick to the ankles by Pepper because a moment later Lex hears an exasperated ‘ow’.

“It is, what do you know of Loki?” Lex’s ears perked up, instantly invested within the situation. She had heard that name before in fact her biological father was adamant that she learnt about him, making sure to distinguish the truth from lies. When she would ask how he knew, he would look at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes, saying ‘He’s a close friend of mine.”

Her train of thought was interrupted by Tony replying.

“A little, kiddo over here’s pretty interested in that sort of stuff, aren’t you kid?” It was her cue to join in.

“Yup, a so called ‘trickster god’ whom was well known as a Jotun within the Asgardian household, he was often used for diplomacies and political missions, trying to unite the two lands, however due to his brother, Thor’s distaste for the species, treaties fell apart leaving the kingdoms at war.” She took in a deep breath, having said all of that in one singular gust.

Phil nodded, before looking back and pushing the file towards Tony who, after a stern look from Pepper, accepted the file.

“In here is everything you need to know about the mission.” 

Tony gave him an eye roll, before strolling towards a table in which many of the blueprints for his newest tech thing was located, gods knew what it was, and swept the all away, making space for the 3d hologram which sprung to life in the air around him. Lex was preoccupied asking Phil why he needed to know about Loki.

“So, whats with the need for a mythology lesson?” She was swinging back and forth on her heels, feeling curious.

“Well, we had a man break into one of our labs through something called ‘The Tesseract’ and-“

“Oh I know that.” She interrupted him, having him turn to her, shocked in a sense.

“You, you know what ‘The Tesseract’ is?” 

“Yup.”

He took a step back, looking at Lex with trepidation, a little wary of a child who knew about a weapon of mass destruction.

“Its one of the 6 stones, right?” Coulson felt himself relax, clearly it was a different Tesseract she was thinking of.

“Sure kid.”

Lex was distracted by a roaring sound coming from behind her, turning to see a green creature smashing through several military grade vehicles, along with a tank, before barrelling towards two personnel and batting them away easily. She gasped slightly, in awe of the creature in front of her.

Tony had his head bowed over the workplace, one of his hands rubbing the back of his neck and the other leaning against the station bench. Lex could vaguely hear Pepper escorting Coulson out, gesturing towards the two Starks at the workbench and making an exaggeration of how long they’d be up, reassuring Coulson that they would do their research, yet knowing in the back of her mind she would force them both to bed by midnight, maximum.

Lex was transfixed, looking at the different people dancing across the screen, spotting Natasha kicking her way to a door, knocking some poor guy out who had no clue what hit him, along with a man in blue white and red armour, brandishing a shield of the same colour scheme. He looked suspiciously like the man on the poster Tony had hanging in his room, his blond hair cut in a military style, swept to the side in a convenient fashion. Tony had a huge crush on this guy, and if they would be working together she was sure it was going to end in Tony making a huge ass of himself. 

The one person that caught her eye was a man in the corner of the screen, appearing out of what seemed to be a sort of portal, powered by the space stone, or ‘Tesseract,’ as Phil had called it. He landed in a kneeling fashion before remaining in that same position for several moments, then jerking upwards and bringing his staff up and releasing a ball of blue light from it, targeting the cluster of engines causing it to explode. Chaos ensued thereafter, resulting in multiple bodies littering the floor and two people being, possessed?

Lex felt an element of familiarity in the back of her mind, looking at the back profile of this man, as if she had seen him somewhere before. His black hair, the clothes, all of it seemed like something from a long lost dream of sorts, the same as real life, but, different. Changed in a way.

If only he would just turn around-

A shot flew towards the camera, blanking out that certain feed, leaving the screen in a static which was beyond frustrating, removing any feeling of familiarity that lex had previously felt, leaving her feeling somewhat empty. Her mind was racing whilst her exterior was calm, reaching to find out why she felt like she knew the man in the video, but nothing came to her.

She gave a little frustrated sigh, turning back towards the other video feeds and scanning the faces in front of her, all enhanced or extraordinary in some way, all completely different, all amazing in their own way.

“Looks like imma be up very late doing homework, you wanna help me revise?” Tony was looking down at her, watching her soak up everything in front of her.

“Only if we get Wendy’s.” Tony chuckled and looked up to the ceiling.

“J.A.R.V.I.S.?”

“Already on it sir.” The automated British voice responded, like Lex’s, but fancier. J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke in a way which was fit for the queen herself, Lex was more of a poshish London accent.

She drew up a chair for herself, plopping down next to Tony and bringing out a pencil and art pad, ripping away her latest drawing (a sketch of Pepper, which was surprisingly in proportion and well coloured, the kid wasn’t half bad at this) and put a title on the next page in big bubble letters; ‘The Extraordinary’s,’ and began making a list of people, leaving space underneath for making notes.

“Ready when you are pops.”


	2. Flying over waves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lex meets a cool guy in one of the plane, on the way to the carrier, who looks suspiciously like the Captain bloke that Tony has a huge crush on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so basically these chapters are leading up to the action, sorry but this is gonna be a slow slooooooooow burn, like unbelievably slow

After a night of revision on odd creatures, Lex was sure her entire head was going to explode. She had a headache from being up for so long, along with a headache from dehydration and a headache for overuse. Maybe she should have gone to bed when Pepper said. But of course, she wouldn’t be a Stark if she ever listened to good advice.

At 6am Coulson had walked through the elevator doors once more and announced that they had to leave for the hellicarrier, earning him a groan from one of the two lying on the desk, face down and half asleep.

He had gone into Lex’s room and picked out as many appropriate outfits as possible, shoving them into a Captain America gym bag (which he highly approved of) and dragged it out to the central room, before picking up a half dead Lex and lightly kicking a Tony in the same condition, trying to prompt him to move. Of course, Tony waved him off, saying he would join them later and to ‘have fun, be safe.’

Coulson sighed and adjusted Lex on his hip, before making his way to the landing pad outside and getting on the small craft which lifted the pair over New York.

Lex barely registered that they made a stop at one point, only slightly rousing herself from her sleep when the engines stopped, before nodding back off.

When she finally woke up, it was because of light glaring off the ocean surface in her eye, glinting and glittering in the most annoying way possible to man. Her eyes opened slightly, and her hand went to her face, trying to shield herself from the light. Lex groaned and sat up, looking towards the cockpit to see a man leaning against the arch separating the pilots from the passengers. He was tall, really tall. Like, within the 6ft perimeter tall, wearing a faded leather jacket and a haircut which Lex assumed was ‘grown out military style.’

Tony would have probably commented on how he had a nice ass.

“Hey mister.” He turned to find the source of the sound, only to see the 12 year old which he was pretty sure was sleeping a moment ago, completely awake and walking towards him in the cabin of a moving vehicle.

“Hey kid.” She was right next to him now, watching him tower above her, only to give a little laugh and walk back to her seat.

“You’re taller than Tony, thats gonna annoy him.” 

The man looked at her in confusion, waiting for her to elaborate in some way.

“Tony’s my dad, well, is he? He is, he’s my not-so-dad dad. Adoptive dad. And he’s sort of tall but he hates being shorter than others, says it makes it harder for him to sass them.”

The man gave a chuckle and looked towards his shoes, trying to find an appropriate way to reply to the kid sitting opposite him.

“I’ll be sure to kneel when i’m around him then.” Lex have a laugh and shook her head.

“Don’t do that, because it starts with the kneeling, then it goes to the banter, then it goes to the arguing and the tension, and then I have to stay with Pepper for a couple of nights because Tony isn’t one for being walked in on.” The man looked at her completely dumbfound, slightly scared and wondering who the hell was her father and why did he need her out of the house for 2 days?

“So, who are you?”

He shook himself out of his daze and gave her a little smile.

“Well kiddo, i’m a soldier.”

She nodded.

“Yeah, but which one? Are you the green man? Or maybe the arrow guy? No he had brown hair and i’m pretty sure he’s on the other side, or are you the Captain?” Her eyes were lit up as she spoke, rattling off different people and their powers, asking him who he was or what he was. 

“Well, I’m the Captain, Captain America.” He stuck out his hand and she latched onto it, instead of shaking it, and pulled it down to hold in a gentle manner, keeping her steady as the craft rattled on.

“My dad has a crush on you, he thinks you’re really cute.” Steve felt himself blush, red creeping up the side of his neck and reaching his ears.

“Well, that’s real nice of him sweetie, when did he say that?” The blush was burning across his cheeks now. Even after 70 years in the ice, Steve Rogers could not keep his cool.

“Well, he says it when he's talking to Pepper, who’s sort of my mum, and she’s saying he’s gotta settle down and he says he’ll only ever dream of doing such a thing if its either with Steve Rogers or Captain Kirk from the new Star Trek.” Oh boy.

Lex leaned up towards him, or as close as she could get.

“Don’t worry, I think he’d prefer you.” Cap’ gave a little chuckle and nodded, almost in agreement, before looking up. How much longer did he have to hear about how some girls dad had a crush on him? Not that he minded, but it was a little odd.

“So honey, why are you coming along?” She looked towards her feet, trying to decide if she should tell this man why she was being dragged along with Captain America to a top secret air/boat shuttle.

“Well, doctor Banner wants to run some tests with me, make sure that its not some sort of dangerous disease I have.” She was avoiding eye contact with Steve, ashamed by what she had.

“Well, whatever you have i’m sure its incredible.” She gave a little shake of her head in disagreement. She had almost killed a puppy because of what she had. She knew that she was colder than the average human, but she didn’t know that if she felt threatened the could go sub zero, in fact she had ruined a few of Tony’s machines because of it, but the real problem was when she got a puppy, and it bit her when she was asleep, thank gods it had the sense to run before her entire room became encased by ice. They had given it to Pepper after that.

“Its dangerous, and I guess I want to know why I have it.” Steve felt a twinge of sympathy for the girl next to him. He knew what it was to have something that was dangerous, he was constantly afraid that one day he would hug someone too hard, or do something which normally wouldn’t hurt, but because it was Captain America, enhanced super soldier, even the simplest of contact could kill.

“Well, I’m sure doctor Banner will do everything to help.” She smiled up at Steve, not quite reaching her eyes. They were too sad and too knowing to be a Childs. 

The pilot shouted towards the two of them, telling them to ‘strap up! We’re landing.’

Both of the passengers took their seats, before a rustling from the back drew Lex’s attention to one Phil Coulson coming out from behind a little nook, which she assumed was the bathroom.

“Hey Phil!” He gave her a friendly wave before sitting beside her, strapping in quickly and holding on to the seatbelt like his life depended on it. Lex had the feeling that Phil wasn’t really a fan of flying.

The shuttle rattled on towards what looked like a large, military ocean craft, planes and carriers littering the runway which took up the entirety of the top of the ship, each craft with their own designated spots. Several people scurried around like ants, busying themselves with this job and that job, working like an efficient machine. 

As they began to lower themselves on to the deck, several different people began to swerve towards their specific ship, kneeling down and grabbing hooks to anchor the wheels and body to the deck, to reduce chances of damage. The only figure standing to the winds was a particular redhead which Lex knew and loved well.

She had unstrapped herself from the seat before the pilot had said it was safe, and had gone through the opening doors before they had finished opening, barreling towards a smirking Natasha who’s crossed arms opened and welcomed her in for a hug.

“Hello MIlaya Moyna, how are you today?” She gave Lex’s nose a little tap with her index finger and wrapping her arms around the little girl. 

“Hello aunt Nat,” Nat smiled slightly at the pet name Lex had adopted for her, before drawing her away and putting on a face of false seriousness.

“Now, young lady, what did I tell you about calling me aunt?”

“Not aunt, it makes you feel old, only aunty because thats what you call the fun aunts.” Nat drew Lex back in for a hug.

“Exactly Milaya, now go and find Fury and ask him about the fish under his big glass dome, you know he likes that.”

Lex ran off into the Hellicarier, swerving to avoid personal after personal, as Natasha watched the child lovingly. She knew it wasn’t her kid, but that little girl meant more to her than all of shield itself.

Captain Rogers had appeared next to her, looking strangely in the direction of the child who had now disappeared from sight.

“She’s really strange, you know that? She knows way too much for a kid her age.”

Nat nodded in response. She knew what he meant. There were times where you would look into Lex’s eyes and see wisdom, a knowledge beyond her years, burning bright like a star in the back of her brain, powering her. Natasha recognised it in herself, and she sometimes found herself wondering what on earth she knew.

“Why do you think she’s like that?”

Natasha’s face darkened, and she turned away, trying not to look him in the eye. Her eyes were cast down and she had begun biting her lip in a nervous manner. Steve noticed the way she fiddled with her hands, trying to distract herself from the question as if she were going to answer it, but knew she shouldn’t.

A shout behind them singled the arrival of one Bruce Banner, who jogged towards them through the wind of a newly landed carrier, pushing his coat around his form and making it a mission to get from one side of the deck to the other. As he was running towards them, the ship began making shifting noises, the entire structure beginning to hum with activity, changing beneath them.

Lex had found Nick Fury by then, in fact, she was currently pointing at the large glass dome beneath their feet at the empty ocean which lay below. The fish had made a point of specifically avoiding the big thing in the water which was blocking their sunlight and giving out weird noises, but Lex didn't mind, she liked how the water was leaving a blue glow in the room, the light dancing on the walls and making the entire chamber seem more mysterious, more enchanting.


	3. talking of blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lex finds Loki, and realises exactly who he is to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo i'm back! haven't done this in a while but here have a chapter
> 
> sophie xx

Lex had been sitting still at the conference table for the past 6 hours after the team had been called out for some sort of mission concerning the ‘Variable,’ as Fury was now calling the intruder. They had left about 4 hours ago, and the time before that had simply been argument upon argument between the new team members about what they should do to draw the Variable out. Lex had sat there and pretended to be uninterested, after all what little girl is interested to adult chatter? Alex Stark that’s who. She had learnt early on with Tony that the tiniest details within a conversation could be extremely important to the outcome, so sitting and pretending to be uninvolved whilst secretly listening to their every word meant that they didn’t get freaked out by the nosy 12 year old.

What she had learnt from said conversations was: Cap was very much a person who didn’t like having control, and instead liked hearing everyone’s opinions, Banner liked to undermine himself and Nick Fury loved the sound of his own voice. It had begun to go dark and her yawns had started appearing more frequently when she finally heard the shuffle of busy feet prepping the misfit group. A couple of guards began yelling, their shouts carrying through the empty hallways of the helacarrier, talking about a ‘prisoner.’

Lex stretched and yawned, letting her arms fall over her head, before turning in her chair and shuffling towards the corridor, wanting to hear from Tony what happened and how exactly he messed it up. Of course he’d want a coffee and a cold bath, but Lex knew he’d be damned if he didn’t make time to brag.

She stood in the doorway of the lab where bruce was currently tinkering away, poking at this or that. She walked up to him and brought the monitor he had previously been working on to her eye level and began clicking away, trying to distract herself until Tony came in. 

When he finally walked through the door, he had a grim look set upon his face, telling Lex exactly what she needed to know. Someone did something cooler than him and upstaged him.

“So, Natasha outdid you?” Tony grumbled and shoved his backpack on one of the many chairs around the room.

“Not even, some prick in clothes that would make Shakespeare shudder.” He said, sitting down and burrowing into his chair.

“So, a fashion don’t beat your ass? Damn thats rich.”

“Language.” Tony quipped, shooting her an overexagerated fake glare.

“English, would you like me to teach you some?”

Tony snorted and stuck his tongue out, fully expecting the 12 year old to retaliate, and only rolled his eyes when she did. Damn he had badly influenced this kid. At least she was smart enough to know when he was doing something wrong and would correct him. He now had to battle an angry and disappointed tween to get even close the liquor cabinet.

Lex, knowing that when Tony sulked she wouldn’t get a story from him, left the room and slinked through the hallways, opening random doors and giggling slightly when she shocked people. Lex had the innate talent of being the only person alive of shocking Nat, and so everyone else was a breeze in comparison.

She wandered, turning through corridors and pathways through the ship, trying her best to be quiet just in case she ended up somewhere she shouldn’t be. She ran up catwalks and strolled through engine rooms, enjoying the heat which was being thrown off by the machinery surrounding her, before she decided to go to the cell block. 

Shrugging past the guards as a harmless 12 year old girl was never a problem, but with the sheer amount positioned around cell 5, she could have said Hannibal Lecter was there, not some criminal who had just been brought in.

She slipped past the first two guards and thanked her blessings that the 3rd decided he needed to take a piss, before ripping out half of the wires behind the keypad and forcing the door open, just enough to let her slink through. 

Lex walked in, keeping her footsteps as minimalistic as possible, just in case whomever was in the cage decided he liked the taste of little girl. She walked around it quietly, sticking very carefully to the shadows of the room, yet allowing herself enough light to actually see where she was walking. Eventually she was at the control panel, with still enough shadows to keep somewhat unseen, but not enough that if someone were to look right where she was standing they wouldn’t see her.

“I wasn’t aware they allowed children here.” 

Lex’s blood froze. Her breath caught in her throat and she suspected it had something to do with the bile rapidly rising through it. Not because she had been heard, but rather because she was familiar with that voice. She knew it well, and remembered it as if it had only spoken to her yesterday.

She didn’t say a word, for fear that if she opened her mouth she might actually throw up, rather than actually speak. She heard a chuckle from him. 

“Are you mute or just stubborn.” He was beginning to turn, his eyes catching hers.

It wasn’t the fact that he was smiling in a cruel manner, as if he would cut her up without a second thought, it wasn’t that his voice was venomous or that he was in a cage of glass, but rather when she looked into his eyes, he held no recognition for her. Finally she found her voice.

“I’m as stubborn as you are a prisoner.” She said, earning a snarl from Loki.

“I am no prisoner, they think a case of glass can hold me?” Lex shook her head.

“I never said SHEILD’s prisoner.” His mouth snap shut.

She emerged from the shadows, feeling her nails biting into the skin of her palm. Maybe if he just saw the truth. She approached the glass and sat, crossed legged like she had done when she was in primary school, and waited. Maybe for him to speak, or to realise, or for herself to change. 

She could feel the familiar cold creeping up her arm, reassuring her and relaxing her where she sat. A small smile appeared on her face before she could stop herself, however the arm she had triggered into change was covered by cloth, so Loki had no clue why the little girl sat in front of him was so pleased to be in the presence of a murderer.

“What’s your name?” He asked.

Lex just shook her head, digging her nails deeper into her palm and hoping the constant pain would hasten the transformation process which was currently at the base of her shoulder. She bit the inside of her cheek and hissed as the cold froze past her shoulder, lulling her into a beautiful calm.

“You should know, though I do look different than last time you saw me.” It crept up her neck, encasing half her face and giving off an odd reflection, which she could see staring at her in the glass. One of her eyes was as red as blood whilst the other remained a beautiful hazel. Her face was half taken over by the beautiful blue which she had come used to see after nightmares.

Loki’s face was in complete shock as he looked upon the child sat in front of him, her blue skin stuck half in shadow, and yet the red eye which she glanced at him with was just as haunting as the pair which had gazed up at him the day she was born. Telling him the truth about himself. 

She had perhaps expected joy, or sorrow, but the utter horror which was written plainly upon his features had not been something which she thought she would see within the context.

“No.” He was backing away slowly from the glass, trying to get further away from her.

“No, no, nonononono no this isn’t how its supposed to happen.” He said, turning away from her and trying to compose himself.

“Oh gods Val, why now.” 

“Lex? Lex?” She could hear Tony calling for her, trying to find her through the maze of corridors and catwalks. Lex sighed and looked up to see Loki with his back to her, trying to compose himself and calm himself. 

“Lex? Le- oh shit Lex kiddo what are you doing in here?” Loki tensed, his fingers digging into his hands and waiting to hear the shouting when Tony saw her skin.

“Lex, do you want to stay in here and calm down?” Tony said, dismissing the blue and noticing instead her 

“Nah, I’m good.” She glanced towards the glass cage and simply dismissed it. She took Tony’s hand and pulled her up, before pulling her away from the enclosure. If she had stayed she would have heard the sob. If she had stayed, unlike the camera’s which had eventually been falsified by simple spells, she would have heard the angry screams echoing through the corridor as her father realised just how badly he had messed up. If only she had kept quiet, if only he didn’t know, then nothing would come from it. Instead she had to show him, tell him. And that made things complicated.


End file.
